New blue sponge
- Thread starter zaraemna
- Start date
dainiusiva
New member
simply amazing.what is the name of this sponge?
rowjimmy
New member
Awesome picture zaraemna...that is a beautiful specimen! That is my favorite sponge.
It's commonly called a Blue Tubular Sponge. I've seen them sold/labeled by the scientific name Haliclona sp. (like PSam mentioned), and Adocia sp. It's hard to truly identify sponges positively without looking at their tissue through a microscope though.
Like uhuru mentioned those blue tubular sponges tend to be photosynthetic, so lighting would be recommended....as well as the disolved organics and bacteria. I keep alot of sponges in my tank and stir my shallow sand bed up a few times a week to help them out.
Keep in mind those blue tubular sponges tend to be toxic as well if they die. I had a specimen die off on me rather quickly, and it affected my tank inhabitants. Got one in a shipment that had white patches on it, and tried to save it so I put it in the tank anyway. Big mistake cause it continued to decline (probably had air trapped in it) and poisoned my tank.
I was fortunate enough to catch it in time, and was able to do water changes and run alot of carbon to counteract the damage done. I clipped a few of the living pieces of blue sponge and planted them in my tank as frags. Luckily some took, and I have them, but their growth is slow unfortunately IME. I've read from others that they grow quick in low flow, but my tank for the most part is high flow. Maybe that is why mine grow so slow.
Good luck with it...it's a beauty! :thumbsup:
It's commonly called a Blue Tubular Sponge. I've seen them sold/labeled by the scientific name Haliclona sp. (like PSam mentioned), and Adocia sp. It's hard to truly identify sponges positively without looking at their tissue through a microscope though.
Like uhuru mentioned those blue tubular sponges tend to be photosynthetic, so lighting would be recommended....as well as the disolved organics and bacteria. I keep alot of sponges in my tank and stir my shallow sand bed up a few times a week to help them out.
Keep in mind those blue tubular sponges tend to be toxic as well if they die. I had a specimen die off on me rather quickly, and it affected my tank inhabitants. Got one in a shipment that had white patches on it, and tried to save it so I put it in the tank anyway. Big mistake cause it continued to decline (probably had air trapped in it) and poisoned my tank.
I was fortunate enough to catch it in time, and was able to do water changes and run alot of carbon to counteract the damage done. I clipped a few of the living pieces of blue sponge and planted them in my tank as frags. Luckily some took, and I have them, but their growth is slow unfortunately IME. I've read from others that they grow quick in low flow, but my tank for the most part is high flow. Maybe that is why mine grow so slow.
Good luck with it...it's a beauty! :thumbsup:
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dainiusiva
New member
thank you guys, also thank you to rowjimmy for shedding light on some issues with this sponge.
zaraemna, how much this colony cost and where did you get it?
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
There is a very nice blue sponge that looks exactly like the one in the first post at a LFS near me and they've had it for some time now. Might get it in the future.
slapshot
Active member
I had a large one of those. I traded to a friend for a Sea Fan that I had always wanted that he grew from a little frag. Anyway I believe those are photosynthetic. They grow well and are fragable. They do need to be kept in fairly strong light. I had mine in medium to slow flow and it grew well.
I bought it in Ventura CA. They had four of them, and it cost 36 dollars. I think it was a good deal. It still looks the same after a few days.
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
Don, you have an asfur, don't you? Did he pick at/eat the sponge?
slapshot
Active member
Yep, but I traded him in. He was not picking on the sponge but started stealing from the gorgs and taking polyps with him. I miss him, but I love my swaying gorgs more.
Reef_Creation
New member
I just bought one about a week and a half ago and it has already started to spread to new adjacently touching rock. I have it where there is light and I feed it detritus from my sump or other surrounding areas daily. I also feed it phytoplankton every now and then since i feed my carnation 3 times a day with phyto. I also try to keep a medium to strong current on it so nothing settles on top of it. If i had a camera to take a picture of it I would show you but it is currently not in my possession.
Sponges intake water through the smaller porous holes and execute the water through the larger ones so make sure when feeding that you feed into the small holes, not the large ones.
and just like rowjimmy said... they are extremely toxic so make sure if one is starting to die that you either do frequent water changes and try to keep it alive or remove it and either give it to somebody to take care of or if you have a hospital tank put it in there.
Sponges intake water through the smaller porous holes and execute the water through the larger ones so make sure when feeding that you feed into the small holes, not the large ones.
and just like rowjimmy said... they are extremely toxic so make sure if one is starting to die that you either do frequent water changes and try to keep it alive or remove it and either give it to somebody to take care of or if you have a hospital tank put it in there.
blasto_master
New member
Blue sponges are the best. They also like phytoplankton and a nice current. <a href="http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/the413pimp/?action=view¤t=bluesponge.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/the413pimp/bluesponge.jpg" border="0" alt="blue sponge"></a>
slapshot
Active member
I would guess nitrates or the silent killer, phosphates. Check those numbers.
nano_reefer10
New member
gorgeous sponge!
